Biathlon: Sebastian Samuelsson hampered by wind — throws away the win

Swedish biathlete Sebastian Samuelsson looked set for a second straight victory after winning the opening sprint on Saturday. On Sunday he led clearly into the second shooting stage, but heavy winds at the range caused big trouble during the final standing shoot.

Samuelsson missed four shots, wiping out his chances to fight for the win. “The form is good and my prone shooting is excellent. But today the standing shooting turned into a mess. You just have to forget it and move on,” Samuelsson said. SVT expert Björn Ferry commented: “Four misses… it’s tough. It’s difficult, but not that difficult.”

Samuelsson faded to seventh at the finish, while teammate Martin Ponsiluoma took fourth. “It was incredibly tough today. I should have adjusted more — I almost never dial this much. The range is exposed to the wind and it really affects things,” Ponsiluoma said.

At the front, Germany delivered a podium sweep: Lucas Fratzscher claimed the victory, David Zobel was second, and Johannes Kühn third.